


Perfect Prefects

by RizaHawkeyePierce



Series: Magical Youths' Guide to Growing Up [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hogwarts Prefects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:00:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RizaHawkeyePierce/pseuds/RizaHawkeyePierce
Summary: When they become prefects, Lily and Remus finally get to know each other a bit...
Relationships: Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter
Series: Magical Youths' Guide to Growing Up [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916311
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Lily walked down the length of the train, her new prefect’s badge gleaming on her chest. She had polished it the night before, but was a little embarrassed about having done so. But, she’d reasoned with herself, it wouldn’t look good to have it smudged and dirty on the first day she’d be trying to assert her authority.

The door to the prefects’ carriage rattled as she opened it, and she saw that most of her fellow prefects had already arrived, as had the Head Boy and Girl. She glanced down at her watch to make sure she wasn’t late, but no, there were still a few minutes before the gathering officially started. She nodded at those she recognized and took a seat near the middle of the carriage, trying to look as though she was interested, but not trying to show off.

This carriage had more open space than the others, with rows of benches facing the rear of the train. The Head Boy and Girl stood in conference in the open space the benches were facing. Lily looked around the room, trying to identify the new prefects from the other houses.

She saw Olive Pritchett and Harish Dhawan from Ravenclaw, Sidney Doyle and Paul Morgan from Hufflepuff and Lee Chen and Sarah Montegue from Slytherin, but none of the Gryffindors were from her year. A thought occurred to her just as she heard the door behind her clatter open. She turned, dreading the sight of James Potter or Sirius Black (though how Dumbledore could have made either of them a prefect boggled the mind), but instead Remus Lupin stepped inside the carriage, smiled slightly at everyone, saw the empty space next to Lily, and came over to stand next to it.

“Mind if I sit here?” he asked.

“Not at all,” said Lily, a little surprised. She knew Remus, of course, since they’d been in most of the same classes for four years now (though he’d decided on Study of Ancient Runes while she took Arithmancy - they still shared Care of Magical Creatures), but she’d never had a real conversation with him because he stuck close to Sirius and James and they overshadowed him. Not to mention James’ persistent hanging around her was becoming more and more irritating, so she tried to avoid the whole group as much as possible.

As he settled himself next to her, she noticed that he looked tired, as though he’d been ill recently. He seemed cheerful enough when he turned to look at her, however.

“How was your summer?” he asked.

“Not bad,” she answered. “My family went on holiday to France.”

“How was that? The weather’s supposed to be nice.”

“It was nice. My sister complained a lot, though.”

“She doesn’t like nice weather?”

“I have two theories - either she doesn’t like nice things, or she just likes to complain.”

Remus smiled. “Seems a shame to take her on holiday, if that’s the case.”

“Well, she’ll complain either way, so at least we can be in France while she does it,” said Lily.

Remus laughed, a soft breath escaping him, and Lily smiled. She already had the sense that Remus Lupin did not laugh often, and she was glad she could make it happen.

At this point the Head Boy and Girl (Jacob Miller, a Ravenclaw, and Andromeda Black, a Slytherin) stepped forward, and the conversation among the prefects quieted.

“Hello again, to those of you who were with us last year, and welcome to our new prefects,” said Andromeda. “We thought this year we’d go over your responsibilities and rules before turning you loose.”

“This shouldn’t take long,” Jacob added, “Last year the Head Boy pontificated for hours, and we were all starving by the time he let us go.”

“And it wouldn’t be the last time,” said Andromeda drily. A few chuckles came from those who clearly remembered being held hostage by long meetings.

“We thought before we start, we’d like to know if you have any questions for us,” Jacob said. Sarah Montegue, the new Slytherin prefect, raised her hand. “Yes?” Jacob asked, gesturing for her to speak.

“I was wondering how we were all chosen as prefects. As in, how do we know the best ones for the job were picked?”

“Oh,” said Jacob, “Well, Professor Dumbledore puts a lot of thought into his choices, and they work out well, for the most part. Obviously he can’t know everything, but he’s seen a lot of students come through the school, so don’t worry if any of you don’t feel up to the job - Professor Dumbledore obviously saw something in you that he thought would be a good addition to the student leadership.”

Lily felt Remus shift next to her, and, glancing at him, she saw a strange expression on his face-- a mix of happiness and doubt.

“That’s all well and good,” said Sarah, pressing on, “But it seems to me like _some_ people here may not be...the best _fit_ for the job, if you know what I mean.” And she turned to look straight at Lily.

Lily felt herself going red as everyone else turned to look at her too. Naturally she’d noticed that she was the only Muggle-born in the room, but she’d thought (she’d hoped) that here, if anywhere, it wouldn't matter. Of course that was stupid. It wasn’t as though a shiny badge would make them respect her. She tried to think of something to say in response, but her thoughts seemed to be stuck. She turned away from Sarah’s gaze and looked out the window, willing herself not to cry.

“I wonder,” said Remus softly, “what makes you say Lily isn’t a good fit? She’s fighting with James Potter and Sirius Black for top of the class. She’s eager to help anyone who needs it. People tend to listen when she talks. I’d say she’s an excellent candidate.” Lily turned to look at him again and he gave her a small smile.

Everyone turned back to Sarah. 

“Yeah, but she’s a--” Sarah started, but Andromeda interrupted.

“Thankfully for the rest of us, your opinions weren’t consulted when the prefects were appointed,” she said, “and I personally don’t give a Niffler’s rear end what you think of each other. You’ll be working together whether you like it or not.”

Sarah scowled, but said no more.

“Right,” said Jacob, trying to regain control of the situation, “if there are no more questions, I think we’ll continue with the rules.” He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and started to read from it.

“Thank you,” Lily muttered to Remus.

Remus nodded, a small smile still on his face. He seemed both pleased and a little embarrassed.


	2. Chapter 2

After this first meeting, Lily started to look forward to prefect gatherings as an opportunity to see Remus apart from Potter and Black. They had to patrol the halls after hours every few nights, so they did so together, talking softly and laughing.

One night, Lily was trying to get some homework done in a quiet corner of the common room. At least, it _had_ been a quiet corner, until Potter had noticed her studying and come over to try to talk to her. She answered him politely at first, but her answers grew more curt as Sirius followed James over, and Remus and Peter followed them. After a few minutes James and Sirius were loudly betting over who could finish his homework first, James looking over every few seconds to see whether she was listening, and Peter was trying to talk over them to ask for help. A couple girls had followed the boys over, and they tittered loudly whenever Sirius said anything. Only Remus sat quietly, and though he, too, kept glancing up at Lily, he seemed to be doing it more out of sympathy than anything.

Eventually Lily, after having scratched out three sentences in a row on the essay she was writing, couldn’t take it anymore. She stood abruptly, ready to really lay in on all of them for being so silly and careless and inconsiderate. As she was taking a breath to start, Remus stood too.

“Time to patrol the corridors,” he said, nodding at Lily, who felt her anger deflate as she followed him to the portrait hole.

It wasn’t until she was out in the corridor outside the common room that she realized something.

“Hang on, “ she said, rounding on Remus, “It’s not our night to patrol at all.”

“I know,” he said, “but I thought you might need…”

“To stove James Potter’s stupid head in?” she suggested.

“I was going to say ‘a break’, but that too,” he said. “I suspect ‘murder of classmate’ would not look great on a job application though.” A small smile played around his mouth.

“What if it said ‘murder of arrogant prick, but he deserved it’?”

“Even so.” Remus paused. “Do you want to do a little patrolling anyway?”

“Why not? I definitely can’t concentrate in there.” She jerked her head in the direction of the Fat Lady.

They started to walk down the corridor together. Eventually something Lily had been wondering a while came to the surface, and she had to ask.

“Why are you friends with them? They’re terrible.”

“Maybe I like being friends with arrogant pricks.”

“I’m serious, Remus. How can you be friends with someone like that?”

Remus hesitated.

“I can’t pretend they’re not…a little conceited,” he said. “Especially lately. But they’re good friends. They _are_ ,” he insisted, as Lily gave him a disbelieving look. “They’ve done a lot for me.”

“How can you stand being around them, though?” she asked. “They’re obnoxious.”

“I guess I’m used to them,” he said, shrugging. “Maybe I should ask you how you can be friends with Severus.”

“That’s different,” said Lily. “He’s...okay, I know he’s not always the most pleasant person to be around, but underneath he’s good. He’s a good person.”

“So maybe there’s something about him you can see that I can’t,” Remus said, nodding. “And maybe there’s something about James and Sirius that I can see, but you can’t.”

Lily looked at him, still doubtful.

“Look, I didn’t have...a lot of friends before I got to Hogwarts,” Remus continued. “But the four of us...from the first day we felt... _at home_ with each other. At least, I did, and I think they felt the same. I don’t think they’d phrase it that way, though.”

“Well, I can’t speak for them, but I feel that way about _you_ ,” Lily said, shoving him a little with her shoulder.

Remus blushed a little, but looked delighted all the same.


End file.
